Monday, February 21, 2011

ST. LOUIS, MO (KRCU) - Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says Congress needs to play by the same rules as everyone else.

Speaking at her St. Louis office on Sunday, the Democratic Senator unveiled a package of reforms she says will help bring transparency and accountability to Congress.

McCaskill called for creating an independent watchdog for the Senate, and for disclosing details of Congressional foreign travel.

"What is the justification for the travel, what are the costs associated with the travel, who traveled on the trip, what was the itinerary in terms of the purpose of the trip, and how does it relate back to the work of an individual member of Congress or an individual member of Senate," McCaskill said.

McCaskill also called for members of Congress to give 10 percent of their office budgets back to the U.S. Treasury, to help pay down the deficit.

"As we are looking at cuts that should happen in the federal budget, and as we try to squeeze out all the waste and fraud and abuse that we have in the federal government, we need to look at our own offices and see if we can't save money," she said.

Over the past 4 years, McCaskill says her office has returned over 1.6 million dollars.